Newbie wanting a bike for training

Wizza1

Hi all, Wizza1 here, I;m looking to get back into using a bike to supplement training in the summer. I used to ride a lot as a kid, (home made cycle speedway type bikes until I did grass track on the real thing). I then bought a coventry eagle that I commuted to work on ; did a London Brighton blah blah... Got kids now and getting them into off road, , my boy loves it. Now I'm looking for a bike to ride during the two hours my son is at cricket. Another mtb mate said to get a steel framed bike, not to worry too much about ali & Carbon, steel to take the wear of the country lanes/roads. I have seen a 531 Sirius with lots of Campagnola ends, flight deck etc I just wondered if someone could give advice on what to look for. I have a very restricted budget , wife , 3 kids, horses and funding a trip to Shaolin next April! £200 max, I have seen some Carerra bikes seem suitable. Is there benefit in going for the steel 531 bike with better ends or the Carrera types with shimano?

As for Bike size, I'm 5'8, long torso short leg. I used the calculator from another posting and it came up with Top Tube 558 mm Seat Tube 421mm? I was looking at a regular 52cm frame. Now getting anxious cos someone else mentioned compact frames...Any advice gratefully received.

Thank you in anticipation

Wizza1

hodsgod

You wont gbet too much for £200, I would suggest ebay.

Wizza1

Sorry, I wasn't clear, the £200 is certainly for a used bike, new is way out of my budget.

Wizza1

redddraggon

Ditch the horses - you don't need to feed a bike (and the bike goes faster).

Felix-da-house-mouse

fd

iga

42.1cm sounds way off for a seat tube. I'm 5'8" with a 30" inside leg and usually come in around the 51cm mark. For compact frames you usually add 3-4cm to the seat tube height to get the equivalent for a horizontal tube, but it depends on how much the compact frame top tube slopes e.g. compact frame 48 cm seat tube = 51cm if a 3 cm slope. The matter is further complicated by 'semi-compact' frames which don't slope quite so much.

As for frame material you'll hear almost endless pros and cons but it often comes down to personal preference, although carbon is probably more susceptible to knocks than steel or aluminium. The Sirius sounds a good buy for your needs, doubt you'd get anything with carbon for £200 anyway. Hope this helps.